The Regnal Chronologies website is a compilation of rulers
who actually governed the states listed, or, at least were officially the
Heads of Government, albeit under a regency or combatting opposition from
a rebel. Nevertheless, I have been asked a number of times about lines
of succession after a particular monarchy has been dissolved or abandoned,
and the individuals who would be sovereigns if history had fallen out differently.
It is a legitimate topic of discussion, and a question of interest apart
from scholarly inquiry. So, what follows are notes and commentary on various
dispossessed thrones. The listings will be for the most part European or
European-influenced, since regulations involving succession are more precisely
set out in that tradition - in Islamic political theory, the successor
to a monarch is selected by the incumbent, sometimes with the advice and
consent of other members of the dynasty and/or important officials; therefore
it is difficult if not impossible to assemble a list of pretenders - the
best one can do is indicate who the heads of the family in question were.

AFGHANISTAN
An ancient land, with a very complex history. The current state was established
in 1747, when the Durrani clan succeeded in creating a central focus of
power in the mountainous highlands, following a severe succession crisis
in Iran, which had controlled the region from the beginning of the 16th
century, more-or-less. The Barakzai clan gained control at the beginning
of the 19th century, but cohesion among the tribes was lost (complicated
by outside interference from Russia and Great Britain), delaying the evolution
of a modern state for another 80 years. The kingdom was overturned in 1973
in a bloodless coup, and the nation has been in turmoil ever since. The
exiled sovereign, Muhammad Zahir, was able to return in 2002, and was granted
the title of "Father of the Nation" - he reoccupied the old royal palace,
and played a significant role in influencing events over the next five
years, but specifically disavowed any intention of restoring the monarchy.
Afghanistan was one of relatively few Islamic monarchies to have recognized
a system of primogeniture, and thus allowing for an inherited claimancy.

ALBANIA
A mountainous land in the western Balkans, astride the east shore of the
entrance to the Adriatic Sea; Albania has long had a reputation for being
ungovernable, and it's history in the 20th century bears that out as numerous
authorities abroad and local have tried with varying degrees of success
to pacify the hill clans.

Albania had been a Ottoman province for centuries,
but in the early 20th century became restive and turbulent. Eventually,
matters were brought to such a pass that independence was decided upon
by the Great Powers of the time. After several attempts to set up a government,
including a bizarre hoax, a throne was
eventually offered to a younger son of a minor German noble House. William
of Wied assumed the title of Mbret, the only Albanian term for "ruler"
(it derives from the Latin imperator) - most contemporary accounts
translate it as "Prince", but some use the term "King". He was forced to
flee after only 6 months in the country, but he never resigned his rights.

WIED-NEUWIED

William.................................Feb.-Sept.
1914 d. 1945

Charles Victor................................1945-1973

The death of Charles Victor eliminated all descendents
of William, and thus the Wied claimancy became considerably more problematic.
Should it ever be advanced once again, presumably the right to do so would
lie with the senior of the Wied-Neuwied gens, the Erbprinz Friedrich Wilhelm.

Eventually a republic was established, but in 1928
the president, Ahmed Bey Zogu, was offered the crown. He ruled efficiently,
but was overwhelmed by Italian forces at the commencement of WWII; the
king of Italy was granted the Albanian regality, but renounced it entirely
in 1943. Zog's exile became permanent after the war, when Communist insurgents
succeeded in setting up a state, but he, and his son Leka after him, continued
to wield a great deal of influence over the Albanian emigre community worldwide.

ZOGU

Zog...........................................1928-1939
d. 1961

Leka I........................................1961-2011

Leka II.......................................2011-

ARMENIA (Armenia
Minor, Cilicia, Lesser Armenia) In 1080, an Armenian state
was established in southern Anatolia, northwest of Antioch, and more-or-less
opposite Cyprus. It endured until the late 14th century, when the region
was conquered by Turks. In it's latter years, the title had been inherited
by the western dynasty which had taken Cyprus, that of de Lusignan. Although
descendents of the original Armenian dynasts disputed the Cypriot claim,
the de Lusignans retained the title even after the absorption of the region
by Muslims.

OTTO von HABSBURG
(or, in full [take a deep breath...], Franz Josef Otto Robert Maria
Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xaver Felix Renatus Ludwig Gaetano Pius
Ignazius von Habsburg-Lotharingen)
Although Otto died in July of 2011, I will leave
this note here, in testament to a great European and, within the
context of this article, the longest-serving, by far, heir and
pretender.
Dr. von Habsburg was born in November of 1912 and would, had he
succeeded
to any of his numerous titular dignities, be by far the longest
reigning
sovereign, not only in modern times, but in general European history -
his father died April 1 1922, which yields an 89 year reign in full;
the closest rival is Louis XIV of France at a mere 72 years.
As heir, not only to the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
but also to the general Austrian Habsburg heritage, Dr. von Habsburg accumulated
an enormous number of dignities and titles - a simple recounting of the
official style of the late 19th century Austrian Emperors reads like a
roll-call of European civilization:

By the Grace of God, Emperor of Austria, Apostolic
King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, of Dalmatia, Croatia, Sclavonia, Galitzia,
Lodomeria, and of Illyria; King of Jerusalem and Prince of Acre; Archduke
of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany and Cracow; Duke of Lorraine, of Salzburg,
of Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, and the Bukovina; Grand Prince of Transylvania;
Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Modena, Parma
and Guastalla, of Auschwitz and Zator, of Teschen, Friuli, Ragusa, and
Zara; Count of Habsburg and Tyrol, of Kyrburg, Görz and Gradiska;
Prince of Trent and Brixen; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lausitz, and in
Istria; Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg; Lord of Tettnang
und Argen; Lord of Trieste, of Catarro, and of the Wendish March; Grand
Voivode of Serbia.

But that is by no means all - from his Habsburg descent, he can make
a case for claims to the Duchy and the County of Burgundy, the Duchies
of Brabant, Gelderland, Limburg, and Luxembourg; the Margraviates of Namur
and of Antwerp; the Counties of Arlon, Flanders, Hainault, Holland and
Zeeland, and Valenciennes; Lord of Malines, Lord of Tournai; Duke of Bar;
The Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, the Duchies of Milan and Mantua, the Margraviate
of Montferrat, and the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. As indicated elsewhere
in this file, he stands at the end of chains of inheritence leading to
the Holy Roman (Western) Empire and, in one
of the supreme ironies of history the Byzantine (Eastern)
Empire as well. As if this weren't enough, it should be noted as well
that a Montferrat-Gonzaga inheritence also carries with it the descent
of the title of King of "Romania" or Thessalia,
the Latin overlordship established in 1204 as the putative suzerain to
all the various little French, Italian, and Spanish lordships set up in
Greece during the 13th-15th centuries. That same descent also carries with
it the little Spanish Kingdom of Mallorca, and the French County of Roussillon.
And it continues; see a possible Anglo-Saxon
and Tsarist Russian connection.

Dr. von Habsburg formally renounced his rights to these titles in 1961;
still, given this heritage, it will come as little surprise perhaps that
he has taken a degree in international law and, after being allowed to
return to Austria in 1966, became President of the Pan-European congress
(a precursor to the current European Union) 1973-1997, a member (CSU) of
the European Parliament (an outspoken advocate for inclusion of eastern
European peoples then under communist rule in pan-European affairs - he
has had the satisfaction of seeing this accomplished in his lifetime) and,
on 13-14 January 1997, President-Emeritus of the European Union.

BAVARIA
A medium sized Alpine state in southeastern Germany, established as a Kingdom
in 1805. These individuals also appear as the heirs to the Jacobite claims
in Great Britain and, strange
as it may seem, a potential line of succession to the Crusader Kingdom
of Jerusalem.

BRAZIL
The Portuguese Royal family established a place of exile in Brazil during
the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, and only returned to Europe in the 1820's,
leaving their former colony an independent Empire.

CAPET-ORLÉANS-BRAGANÇA
For
many years, the succession within this dynasty was a matter of contentious
dispute. In 1908 Prince Pedro de Alcântara (1875-1940) renounced
his rights to the Brazilian throne for himself and for his descendants.
This made his nephew, Prince Pedro Henrique, head of the family upon the
death of the Princess Imperial in 1921. However, Prince Pedro's descendents
did not agree to the renunciation, causing considerable acrimony in Brazilian
royalist circles. Within the past few years though, the current senior
of this line, Dom Pedro Gastão, has acknowledged the legitimacy
of the renunciation - so the following list gives the heirs according to
that descent.

Pedro III Henrique............................1921-1981

Luiz Gastão...................................1981-

BULGARIA
This state emerged as a dependent Principality within the Ottoman Empire
in 1879. It achieved full independence in 1908. In one of history's more
bizarre twists, Simeon was able to return to Bulgaria after the fall of
the Iron Curtain and succeeded in becoming (July 2001-Aug 2005) Prime Minister
of the nation he was monarch of as a small child.

BURGUNDY This region
in west-central Europe has been akin in some ways to a spine around
which much of the rest of western Europe has been organized. In it's
origin, it emerged as a Dark-Ages Teutonic tribal kingdom. Next
established as two different Neo-Carolingian states, it eventually
became an appanage Duchy within France. In the 14th and 15th centuries,
it expanded far beyond France into the Low Countries, based upon the
most culturally splendid court on the continent. Shattered forever
after the death of Charles the Rash in 1477, the succession and,
occasionally, the title, continues to the present day.

Earlier Burgundy

CAPET-VALOIS

Marie the Rich................................1477-1482

HABSBURG

Philip I (King of Castile)....................1482-1506

Charles V (HRE, King of Spain)................1506-1556 d. 1558

Philip II (King of Spain).....................1556-1598

Philip III (King of Spain)....................1598-1621

Philip IV (King of Spain).....................1621-1665

Charles II (King of Spain)....................1665-1700

CAPET-BOURBON
There is an argument which asserts that upon the demise of Charles II,
Burgundy would be transferred along with the rest of the Spanish
inheritence to the nominee for King of Spain, Philip V (also of
Capet-Bourbon, a younger brother of Louis II, below), as a territorial
possession of Spain. Indeed, both the Spanish Borbons and the Austrian
Habsburgs used the title in the context of possessions in the Low
Countries - Spain retains the Burgundian Arms in it's royal Device to
this day. But this is not likely to be accurate - Burgundy is a Gift of
the French Crown, and as such was used for Louis "II", and later in the
century for Louis Joseph. As it happens, the French senior line failed
anyway, in 1883, and the senior Spanish line inherited the claim at
that point.

Louis I le Grand Dauphin......................1700-1711

Louis II le Petit Dauphin.....................1711-1712

Specifically titled as Duc de Bourgogne.

Louis III (XV, King of France 1715-74)........1715-1751 d. 1774

Louis IV Joseph...............................1751-1761

A grandson of the King, titled as Duc de Bourgogne from birth.

Louis III (restored)..........................1761-1774

Louis V (XVI, King of France 1774-92).........1774-1793

Louis VI l'Enfant du Temple...................1793-1795

Louis VII (XVIII, King of France 1814-24).....1795-1824

Charles III (X, King of France 1824-30).......1824-1836

Louis VIII Antoine (Duc de Angoulême).........1836-1844

Henri (Comte de Chambord).....................1844-1883

Capet-Bourbon-Spain-Molina

Jean III (Carlist pret. in Spain 1861-1887)...1883-1887

Charles IV (Carlist pret. in Spain 1887-1909).1887-1909

Jacques I (Carlist pret. in Spain 1909-1931)..1909-1931

Alphonse I....................................1931-1936

Capet-Bourbon-Spain-Cadiz

Alphonse II (King of Spain 1886-1931).........1936-1941

Jacques II....................................1941-1975

Alphonse III..................................1975-1989

Louis VIII....................................1989-2010 d. ---

Louis IX......................................2010-

Titled as Duc de Bourgogne from birth.

BURMA (Myanmar)
This state in Southeast Asia covers a region which has hosted numerous
local kingdoms representing a diverse ethnic mix.

It is not possible to determine an heir-of-pretence
to this throne, or even to decide who might be the Head of the House. The
monarchy had no succession rules as such, beyond the understanding that
the reigning sovereign would appoint his heir apparent - but even in that
instance, a forceful and determined prince could seize power at a critical
moment. Each transition was characterized (as was often the case in the
Ottoman Empire) with the wholesale slaughter of siblings and other relatives
of the winning prince. The last king, Thibaw, succeeded in Oct. of 1878,
and ordered a massacre which claimed 79 of his brothers, sisters, nephews,
and nieces in Feb. of 1879 (in many instances by being buried alive and
then trampled by elephants). There were some survivors - two of his brothers
fled to the British consulate and were smuggled out of the country, and
there were other near relatives who for one reason or another evaded death
- but the genealogy of the royal family become ill-documented from the
1890's on (see Royal Ark's detailed analysis of Konbaung,
for example), and while there are doubtlessly any number of people directly
descended from Burmese sovereigns living today, they live for the most
part in thoroughly obscure circumstances. The best that can be done is
to note the following individuals, each close members of the royal family,
and each having at times claimed a right to the throne...

Sado Min Ye Yanshein, d. 1886

Maung Shan Gyi, d. 1896 >

Saw Yan Baing, d. c. 1955 in China

BYZANTINE
EMPIRE
The Eastern Roman Empire emerged with the final division
of Imperial responsibilities in 395 CE. While the Western Empire survived
but a mere 81 more years before being broken apart by newly emerging Barbarian
Kingdoms, the Eastern division endured for many centuries, by times huge
and imposing, at other times small and powerless. Finally destroyed after
the climactic Seige of Constantinople in 1453, the last Imperial House
left a number of lines of succession, lines which follow quite surprising
turns. Here are possible successions, based solely on genealogical inheritence.
It must be emphasized that beyond the 16th century, none of the heirs mentioned
herein would have been any more than dimly aware of the implications of
their remote ancestry. Nevertheless...

When the last of the Morean Paleologi died without
issue, the nearest relative proved to be the Muscovite Princes, a fact
which they were very well aware of, and which they remembered and utilized
extensively until the end of the Russian monarchy in 1917.

RURIKOVICH

Basil III (Prince of Muscovy)..............c.
1519-1533

John IX the Awesome (Tsar of all the Russias).1533-1584

Theodore (Tsar of all the Russias)............1584-1598

With the decease of Feodor Ivanovich, the main stemma
of the Rurikovichi became entire extinct: genealogically, the next surviving
Byzantine line can be found only by reaching back to a collateral branch
established in Italy in the early 14th century. These Paleologi became
Margraves of Montferrat, in the Piedmont - they became extinct in 1530,
but through female heiresses their rights were inherited by the House of
Gonzaga, Dukes of Mantua...

GONZAGA

Vincent I (Duke of Mantua 1587-1612)..........1598-1612

Francis I (Duke of Mantua 1612)....................1612

Ferdinand I (Duke of Mantua 1612-1626)........1612-1626

Vincent II (Duke of Mantua 1626-1627).........1626-1627

Margaret......................................1627-1632

Margaret married a Duke of Lorraine-Bar, and their
daughter also married within the Lotharingian House of Vaudemont...

VAUDEMONT

Claudia.......................................1632-1648

Ferdinand Philip..............................1648-1659

Charles I (Duke of Lorraine)..................1659-1690

Leopold Joseph (D. Lorr. 1697-1702, 1714-29)..1690-1729

Francis Stephen (D. Lorr. 1729-37 HRE 1743-65)1729-1765

Francis married very well; to the sole heiress of
all the Austrian Habsburgs, Maria Theresa of Austria-Hungary. Their descendents
retained the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy until 1918, and remain a large
and important family even today.

Habsburg-Lorraine

Joseph (HRE)..................................1765-1790

Leopold (HRE).................................1790-1792

Francis II (HRE 1792-1806, E. Aust. 1804-35)..1792-1835

Ferdinand II (Emp. Austria 1835-48)...........1835-1875

Francis Joseph (Emp. Austria 1848-1916).......1875-1916

Charles II (Emp. Austria 1916-1918)...........1916-1922

Otto..........................................1922-2011

Charles III...................................2011-

As noted above, it is a supreme irony that the direct
heir to the Holy Roman Emperors - the logical outgrowth of the Western
Roman Empire, is also the distant heir, in a sense, to Constantine XI,
last of the Eastern Roman Emperors.

The Latin Empire In
addition to the Greek Empire described above, there existed for a time
a Latin Empire at Constantinople, created when crusaders conquered the
city in 1204. It was vanquished by the resurgent Greek state in 1261, but
a continuing series of Western Europeans retained a putative claim on the
Latin creation...

CAPET-Courtenay

Baldwin II....................................1228-1261
d. 1273

Philip I......................................1273-1283

Catherine I...................................1283-1308 with...

Capet-Valois

Charles I.....................................1301-1313 d. 1325

Catherine II..................................1313-1346 with...

Capet-Anjou

Philip II.....................................1313-1332 and...

Robert II (Pr. of Taranto)....................1343-1364

Philip III....................................1363-1374

DesBAUX

Jacques.......................................1374-1384

CAPET-Artois

John I (Count of Eu)..........................1384-1387

Robert III (Count of Eu).................Apr.-July
1387

Philip IV (Count of Eu).......................1387-1397

Charles II (Count of Eu)......................1397-1472

John II (Count of Etampes)....................1472-1491

DEUTZ

John II (Duke of Cleves-Marck 1481-1521)......1491-1521

John III (Duke of Cleves-Marck-Berg)..........1521-1539

William I (Duke of Cleves-Marck-Berg).........1539-1592

John William (Duke of Cleves-Marck-Berg)......1592-1609

HOHENZOLLERN

George William (Mgv. of Brandenburg 1619-40)..1609-1640

Frederick William I (Mgv. of Brandenburg)....1640-1688

Frederick I (King of Prussia 1701-13).........1688-1713

Frederick William II (King of Prussia)........1713-1740

Frederick II the Great (King of Prussia)......1740-1786

Frederick William III (King of Prussia).......1786-1797

Frederick William IV (King of Prussia)........1797-1840

Frederick William V (King of Prussia).........1840-1861

William II (K. of Prussia; Emp. Ger. 1871-88).1861-1888

Frederick III (Emperor of Germany 1888)............1888

William III (Emperor of Germany 1888-1918)....1888-1941

Frederick William VI..........................1941-1951

Louis Ferdinand...............................1951-1994

George Frederick..............................1994-

Again, in a fairly startling irony, the senior heirs
to Baldwin de Courtenay turn out to be the last of the German Kaisers,
who were the chief rivals and opponents of the Austrian Lorraine-Habsburgs
from 1740 to 1914.

The CAROLINGIAN
LEGACY Europe lives within the shadow - however faint at
this distant time - of Charlemagne. He built from a barbarian nation a
vast Empire encompassing much of western Europe. Though his Empire did
not survive a third generation, it's memory gave to Europeans a sense of
identity they had not had before, and within it's fragments were the cores
of three of the continents most significant states: from the West Franks
came France, from the East Franks came Germany, and from the Middle Franks
evolved both Lotharingia (Lorraine) in the north and Frankish Lombardy
(Italy) to the south. Much of the remainder of European historical and
political development can be seen as the tale of the attempts by these
three to define once and for all the relationship between each of them.
What of the family of Charlemagne? The Carolingians wasted themselves in
internecine conflict during the 9th century, until they had faded into
comparative obscurity. Yet, they left heirs and, although they never had
a tradition of rigidly Salic seniority, it is nevertheless a question of
interest to follow the elder stemma of this clan to discover who can theoretically
claim to be the elder heir to the Carolingian inheritence. The following
list follows the senior lines from Charlemagne, and is based on moderately
Salic progression, wherein male members are always preferred, but succession
via female lines is accepted if no other recourse is possible.

Note: This inquiry developed out of the curiosity
of several readers who, being familiar with John Steinbeck's Pippin,
a novel chronicling the improbable return of a lineal heir of Charlemagne
to power (and in which an heir to the even more distant Merovingians is
also spoken of), wanted to know who the real Caroling and Meroving heirs
were. I have never been able to find any descendents of the Merovingians,
but as for their successors...

CAROLINGIAN

Charles the Great (HRE)........................771-814

Bernard (King of Italy)........................814-818

Pepin..........................................818-840

Bernard........................................840-893

Bernard (Count of Beauvais)....................893-949

Theodoric (Count of Beauvais)..................949-
?

Heribert (Count of Meaux)......................
? -993

Heribert (Count of Meaux)......................993-995

Stephen (Count of Troyes)......................995-1021

AUTUN

Hugh (Co. Autun & Chalons, Bishop of Auxerre).1021-1039

de DONZY

Herve I (Baron Donzy).........................1039-1055
>

Geoffroi II (Baron Donzy)..................1055
> -1111 >

Herve II (Baron Donzy).....................1111
> -1120

Geoffroi III (Baron Donzy)....................1120-1157
>

Herve III (Baron Donzy)....................1157
> -1187 >

William (Baron Donzy)......................1187
> -1191

Philip (Baron Donzy)..........................1191-1194

Renaud (Baron Donzy)..........................1194-1204

Herve IV (Baron Donzy)........................1204-1223

THIERS

Beatrice (Countess of Chalons)................1223-1227

d'AUXONNE

John (Count of Chalons).......................1227-1267

Otto (Count of Burgundy)......................1267-1303

Robert (Count of Burgundy)....................1303-1315

Jeanne I (Countess of Burgundy)...............1315-1330

CAPET

Jeanne II (Countess of Burgundy)..............1330-1347

Capet-Burgundy (1st Creation)

Philip (Duke of Burgundy).....................1347-1361

Margaret......................................1361-1382

FLANDERS

Louis (Count of Flanders).....................1382-1384

Margaret II (Dss. Brab. & Limb., Css. Fland.).1384-1405

CAPET-BURGUNDY (2nd creation)

John (Duke of Burgundy).......................1405-1419

Philip (Duke of Burgundy).....................1419-1467

Charles (Duke of Burgundy)....................1467-1477

Marie (Duchess of Burgundy)...................1477-1482

HABSBURG

Philip (King of Castile 1504-1506)............1482-1506

Charles V (HRE, King of Spain)................1506-1558

Philip II (King of Spain).....................1558-1598

Philip III (King of Spain)....................1598-1621

Philip IV (King of Spain).....................1621-1665

Charles II (King of Spain)....................1665-1700

CAPET-BOURBON

Louis.........................................1700-1711

Louis.........................................1711-1712

Louis XV (King of France 1715-1774)...........1712-1774

Louis XVI (King of France 1774-1792)..........1774-1793

Louis XVII....................................1793-1795

Louis XVIII (King of France 1814-1824)........1795-1824

Charles X (King of France 1824-1830)..........1824-1836

Louis Anthony.................................1836-1844

Henry.........................................1844-1883

Capet-Bourbon-Spain-Molina The
House of Molina represents the latter phase of the Carlist pretenders from
Spain - at least, until 1936. At that time, the Carlist branch became extinct
(but see Carlist Spain for a continuance of that pretension),
and the empowered Cadiz branch of the Spanish Royal family came to the
fore. But not for long - upon the deposition of Alfonso XIII, his heirs
dissipated their claims; Alfonso's eldest son resigned his rights and married
a commoner (but he died childless in 1938); a second son, the deafmute
Duque de Segovia, also resigned his rights, but nevertheless continued
at times to press them anyway, both in the Spanish and in the French successions.
Since he and his heirs are legitimate, and this particular list is primarily
a genealogical rather than a political one, I have decided to ignore the
confused state of their claimancies and simply record their succession
as elder heirs to Charlemagne.

John (Count of Montizon)......................1883-1887

James (Duke of Madrid)........................1887-1931

Alphonse (Duke of
San Jaime)..................1931-1936

Capet-Bourbon-Spain(-Segovia, post 1941)

Alphonse XIII (King
of Spain 1886-1931).......1936-1941

James (Duke of Segovia,
and of Anjou).........1941-1975

Alphonse (Duke of
Anjou)......................1975-1989

Louis (Duke of Anjou).........................1989-

The Lotharingian InheritenceThe
above list records the descent from the eldest stemma
of Charlemagne's heirs. But politically, that line was
marginalized entirely, and the Imperial succession went to a younger
son, Louis the Pious. He had four legitimate sons, three of whom
contended for mastery over the Empire after 840. In June of 843, the
Empire was sundered into parts - a Kingdom of the East Franks (which
evolved into Germany), a Kingdom of the West Franks (which evolved into
France), and a Kingdom of the Middle, or Central Franks; Lotharingia.
This latter state originally comprised a wandering strip of territory
involving the Low Countries, Alsace and Lorraine, Switzerland, and
northern Italy. Hopelessly indefensible, it was quickly carved up and
absorbed by it's neighbours, mainly Germany. It remains of interest,
however, because it was the region assigned to Louis' eldest son, and
the one who became Roman Emperor after him - Lothar. Although his
inheritence vanished entirely after two generations, his line did not,
and the core of the region still recalls his name - "Lorraine" is
simply the French for "Lotharingia". What happened to his descendents?
They stayed until recent times within the core of Central Francia, and
their line is not without interest (indeed, it probably has a better
claim to a Carolingian legacy than the above list). What is assumed in
the following list is a basic Salic succession where possible, although
it will be seen that regular forays through female lines is required.
Enumeration is internally consistent, as if they had actually succeeded
one another, but does not reflect actual numerals used as such.

CAROLINGIAN

Lothar I (HRE).................................840-855

Lothar II (King of Lotharingia)................855-869

Hugo (Duke of Alsace)..........................869-895

Gisela (fem.)...................................895-908

DENMARK

Reginhilde (fem.)...............................908-931 >

HAMALAND

Mathilde (fem.)...............................931 >-968

SAXON

Otto I (HRE) the Great.........................968-973

Otto II (HRE)..................................973-983

Otto III (HRE).................................983-1002

Sophia (fem.)..................................1002-1039

Adelheid I (fem.)..............................1039-1045

LOTHRINGEN (Keldachgau, Saffenberg)

Hermann I (Archbishop of Köln)................1045-1056

Konrad (Duke of Bavaria)......................1056-1061

Adolf I of Berg...............................1061-1063 >

Hermann II of Saffenberg (C. of Nörvenich)..1063 >-1100

Adalbert I (Count of Nörvenich)...............1100-1110

Adolf II (Count in Kölngau & Ruhrgau).........1110-1152

Adolf III (Count in Roergau)..................1152-1158

Hermann III (Count of Müllenark)..............1158-1172

Adolf IV......................................1172-1186

Adalbert II...................................1186-1211

Hermann IV....................................1211-1248

Adelheid II (fem.).............................1248-1267

LIMBURG (Luxembourg)

Heinrich I (Count of Luxembourg)..............1267-1281

Heinrich II (Count of Luxembourg).............1281-1288

Heinrich III (HRE)............................1288-1313

Jan (King of Bohemia).........................1313-1346

Karl (HRE, King of Bohemia)...................1346-1378

Wenzel (HRE, King of Bohemia).................1378-1419

Sigismund (HRE, King of Bohemia & Hungary)....1419-1437

Elisabeth (fem.)...............................1437-1442

HABSBURG

Ladislas (King of Bohemia and Hungary)........1442-1457

Anna (fem.)....................................1457-1462

WETTIN (Saxe-Thuringia)

Margarethe (fem.)..............................1462-1501

HOHENZOLLERN

Joachim I (Margrave of Brandenburg)...........1501-1535

Joachim II (Margrave of Brandenburg)..........1535-1571

Johann Georg (Margrave of Brandenburg)........1571-1598

Joachim Friedrich (Margrave of Brandenburg)...1598-1608

Johann Sigismund (Duke in Prussia)............1608-1620

Georg Wilhelm (Duke in Prussia)...............1620-1640

Friedrich Wilhelm I (Duke in Prussia).........1640-1688

Friedrich I (King in Prussia).................1688-1713

Friedrich Wilhelm II (King in Prussia)........1713-1740

Friedrich II the Great (King in Prussia)......1740-1786

Friedrich Wilhelm III (King in Prussia).......1786-1797

Friedrich Wilhelm IV (King in Prussia)........1797-1840

Friedrich Wilhelm V (King in Prussia).........1840-1861

Wilhelm I (German Emperor)....................1861-1888

Friedrich III (German Emperor).....................1888

Wilhelm II (German Emperor)...................1888-1941

Friedrich Wilhelm VI..........................1941-1951

Ludwig Ferdinand..............................1951-1994

Georg Friedrich...............................1994-

CASTILE The
central portion of the Iberian peninsula, Castile was an independent
Spanish kingdom from 1035 until the unification of it with Aragon, to
form Spain itself, effectively from 1479,officially from 1556. See
also, Spain.

In one of the more egregious examples of a senior line being shunted
aside by a grasping relative, the 14-year-old grandson of King Alfonso
X was prevented from succeeding to the throne upon his grandfathers
death in 1284, his uncle Sancho, younger brother to the Heir (who died
prematurely in 1275) convincing the nobility that he would be a better
warrior-king in troublous times than his nephew. The elder line
continued, though, and fluorished after a fashion - their descendents
survive to the present day.

Vacant until the posthumous birth of the Heir, 14 May 1879-16 Jan. 1880.

Luis X (Duque de Medinaceli)..................1880-1956

Victoria (fem.)(Duquessa de Medinaceli)........1956-

CHINA
The Dragon Throne of the Middle Kingdom (Zhongguo) is one of the oldest
monarchies in existence, in its origins reaching back more than 4100 years.
Although there has not been a continuous succession, inasmuch as China
has shattered into petty states with no central authority several times,
the sense of continuity and the retention of ancient tradition has always
been present, often characterized by a particular dynasty or regime being
said to hold "the mandate of Heaven".

Note as well, a brief line of Ming pretenders (not carried
through to modern times so far as I know), who fought unsuccessfully
against the Manchu takeover of the 1640's.

MING

Chongzhen (Zhu Yujian)........................1627-1644

Hongguang (Zhu Yousong Fuwan).................1644-1645

Longwu (Zhu Yujian Tanwan)....................1645-1646

Yonghe (Zhu Changfang Lu-wan).................1646-1647

Shuntian (Zhu Yihai Lu-wan II)................1647-1653

Shaowu (Zhu Yuyue Zhen Sun) (In Burma 1659)...1653-1661 and...

Shitsun (Zhu Wan Gaotsun).....................1659-1661

Yongli (Zhu Youlang Guiwan)...................1661-1662

COURLAND
(Latv. Kurzeme) A Duchy on the Baltic
coast of Latvia, comprising the headlands east of the Gulf of Riga together
with the south bank of the Daugava (Russ. Dvina) River. It was of old the
territory of the Kuri tribe of ancient Latvians, conquered in the 13th
century by the Livonian Order of Crusader Knights. The Duchy itself was
formed in the 16th century when the Order became Protestant and secularized
it's holdings into a Ducal fief of Poland. For a time the Dukes held a
brilliant court connected with other European dynasts, but eventually the
region was absorbed into Russia. The following "Pretenders" are the continued
line of the dynasty, although they do not advocate a return - in 1918 the
nobility of Courland discussed to give the proposed Duchy to the Birons
but they explicitly refused any interest and nobles considered them being
too Russophile.

EGYPT Perhaps
the oldest nation on earth in terms of a continuous memory of sovereign
identity on the part of it's inhabitants, the modern Egyptian Kingdom emerged
at the beginning of the 19th century as an autonomous viceroyalty within
the Ottoman Empire. A British protectorate from the 1880's, it became fully
independent in 1922. Despite the fact that Fuad is one of the longest-reigning
Heads of Royal Houses living today, he is still comparatively hale, owing
to the fact that he succeeded upon the abdication of his father to his
throne at the age of 6 months, being deposed himself at the age of 17 months.
Egypt is one of the few Islamic monarchies to maintain a European style
of inheritance and succession.

ENGLAND
The various Thrones-of-Pretence for England are now to be found HERE.
ETHIOPIA
An ancient monarchy in the mountains of east Africa, with a very complex
history. The monarchy was overthrown in 1974 but the exiled family is still
in large numbers.

FRANCE
-
Imperial pretension; Elders of the House of Bonaparte
(Princes Canino) These represent the senior branch of the
House of Bonaparte; it was inherited by a cadet branch of the Greek Royal
family in the 1960's before being passed on to a well-known Polish noble
family, and now being represented by an Italian branch of the family which
once ran the post office of the Holy Roman Empire.

FRANCE
-
Royal pretension: The Legitimists
The French royalist claims are exceedingly complex, but in essence boil
down to two main lines of thought. The first is called the Legitimist position.
This position regards the crown as completely inalienable, and inheritable
therefore only by successive eldest stems of the House of Capet, regardless
of who they might be otherwise (as long as they are of legitimate birth
and Roman Catholic). Thus, when the senior branch of the French royal Bourbons
became extinct in 1883, the next eldest stem , the Spanish Bourbons, inherit
the title. As an aside, Louis XIX may perhaps hold a record as having one
of the worlds shortest reigns - he was King of France in a very technical
sense in the approximately 10 to 15 minute interval between his fathers
signature on the Instrumeent of Abdication (1830) and his own signature
on the same document.

The adherence to the logic of attending strictly
to the senior surviving branch of the House of Capet leads this particular
line down some fairly unobvious paths. When Henri V died, the next senior
line line was represented by the Carlist pretenders in Spain, who abandoned
even that pretention by 1931. When that line became extinct a few years
later, the King of Spain briefly came into consideration (he had been deposed
from Spain by that time), but upon his demise, the senior branch of his
progeny was not the line which eventually stops in the current Spanish
sovereign, but rather an elder branch, the Duques de Segovia, who had abdicated
their Spanish rights in the 1930's. They are and remain, however, the eldest
and senior branch of the descendents of Hugh Capet. Note also their surprising
connection to Lancastrian England.

FRANCE
- Royal pretension: The Orléanists The
line of thought in opposition to the Legitimists (see just above) involves
the fact that Charles X and his heir Louis (XIX) both abdicated in 1830,
and that the throne was then transferred to Louis Philippe, Duc d'Orléans.
This line regards the crown as capable of being abdicated, and also regards
it as vital that a successful candidate be not only of legitimate birth,
and Roman Catholic in religion, but also French in nationality.

CAPET-BOURBON-ORLÉANS

Louis Philippe................................1830-1848
d. 1850

Philippe VII..................................1850-1894

Philippe VIII.................................1894-1926

CAPET-BOURBON-GUISE

Jean III......................................1926-1940

Henri VI......................................1940-1999

Henri VII.....................................1999-

FRANCE
- The Naundorff claim History
is replete with tales of crowned kings dying or disappearing under
muddled circumstances and, nearly always, when a royal personage meets
with a bad end someone pops up shortly thereafter to claim they are
that unfortunate monarch, saved by chance or by plot from a grim fate,
and would you please give me my throne back now? - see Lambert Simnel
and Perkin Warbeck in English history, or the various False Dmitrys in
Russian history, as typical examples. France is no exception to this
process; as a result of the French Revolution and the execution of
Louis XVI, his heir, also named Louis, languished in prison until his
own demise from starvation and neglect, in 1795. Perhaps. In the late
1820's, a man whose legal name was Karl Wilhelm Naundorff, a clockmaker
from Berlin, wrote a memoir claiming he was the lost Dauphin, secreted
away from prison by royalist sympathisers, who thereupon substituted a
deaf-mute orphan in his place. He went on to claim that he had been
recaptured by Napoleonic agents, and imprisoned once more until again
escaping, in 1810 - which year, in fact, he first appears in public
records, receiving Prussian citizenship while living in Spandau. He
couldn't prove any of this story, but he was sufficiently plausible in
his knowlege of details regarding court personalities and activities to
have convinced several members of the ancien regime
of his legitimacy. Surviving members of the royal family would have
none of it, however, and his claim did not prosper. He didn't
relinquish it, though, even after being exiled to Great Britain, and
when he died in the Netherlands (in somewhat doubtful circumstances) in
1845, his family maintained the claim, and they still do to this day.
So, for completeness sake, here is the Naundorff succession...

CAPET-BOURBON

Louis XVI.....................................1774-1793

Louis XVII ("Karl Wilhelm Naundorff").........1793-1845

Charles X.....................................1845-1866

Charles XI....................................1866-1899

Jean III......................................1899-1914

Henri V.......................................1914-1960

Charles XII...................................1960-

GEORGIA After
the death of David XII, last king of East Georgia (Kartli & Kakheti),
by edict of emperor Alexander I of Russia, seniority among Georgian princes
was given to the family of Bagration-Mukhranskiy, the branch of the Bagratid
dynasty descended from princes of Mukhrani. As an interesting aside, Giorgi
XIII's daughter Leonida married Vladimir Kirillovich Romanov (d.1992),
head of Russian Imperial House. Their daughter Maria is present head of
Russian Imperial House, which see, below...

BAGRATION-KAKHETI

Davit XII.....................................1800-1801
d. 1819

BAGRATION-MUKHRANELI

Demetre III...................................1819-1826

Konstantin III................................1826-1842

Ioane II......................................1842-1895

Konstantin IV.................................1895-1903

Aleksandre II.................................1903-1918

Giorgi XIII...................................1918-1957

Erekle III....................................1957-1977

Giorgi XIV....................................1977-2008

Erekle IV.....................................2008-

GERMANY (and
PRUSSIA) The Kings of Prussia became for a time Emperors
of Germany after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Georg has, in fact, two
older brothers, but they have resigned their rights.

GREAT
BRITAIN The Great Britain article is now to be found HERE.
GREECE
The two ordinal numbers given are owing to the fact that the Hellenic sovereigns
are conscious of their Byzantine heritage, and often indicate as much by
ennumerating themselves according to the Mediaeval Emperors.

HAWAII The
Hawaiian Islands were unified as a Kingdom in the early 19th century, previous
to which they had been partitioned intro local chieftaincies and clan-oriented
petty Kingdoms, as was the case with most Pacific islands. Hawaii endured
as a sovereign monarchy for over 80 years, but under increasing pressure
from European and American interests, the Kingdom failed, and was replaced
by a wholy-subservient republic - that, too, was dissolved and the islands
became an American possession. The Royal Family still exists, however...

E. Keliiahonui was a fighter-pilot in the U. S. Army
Air Corps (precursor to the Air Force) during World War II.

(Quentin) Kawananakoa.........................1997-

HANNOVER
A
Kingdom in northwestern Germany, based on the Duchy of Braunschweig-Luneburg,
and notable as being represented by a cadet branch of the family which
became the British Royal Family 1714-1901. The pretenders still retain
the right to petition the British government to restore the title of Duke
of Cumberland, lost during World War I. The Kingdom itself fell to Prussia
as a result of the Austro-Prussian conflict, but compliance to Prussian
interests gained Ernest Augustus III an allodial Braunschweig Duchy
(Wolfenbuttel) for a short time before and during the first World War.

WELF

Georg V.......................................1851-1866
d. 1878

Ernst August II...............................1878-1923

Ernst August III (D. Br.-Wolfenbuttel 1913-8).1923-1953

Ernst August IV...............................1953-1987

Ernst August V................................1987-

INDIA
The subcontinent of India has seen many empires and states during its very
long history. From the 16th century to the 19th, most of what is now India
was governed by a Muslim dynasty of Central Asian origins; the Mughals.
They gradually lost control over much of India as Hindu nationalists (particularly
the Marathas) and European colonizers succeeded in asserting themselves
in the provinces - the dynasty was deposed in 1858 by the British, following
the Sepoy Mutiny.

TIMURID (Mughal) The
Mughals ("Mongols") were the senior line of the Timurids, a Central Asian
clan that erupted out of Transoxania in the latter 14th century. The first
entry is what can be determined of the senior Timurids since the collapse
of the Mughal Empire. This line is the one accepted as the legitimate representatives
of this noble clan by the Indian government.

Bahadur Shah II...............................1837-1858
d. 1862

Hidayat Afshar................................1862-1878

Sulaiman Shah Bahadur.........................1878-1890

Kaiwan Shah Gorkwani..........................1890-1913

Salim Muhammad Shah Bahadur...................1913-1925

No claimant recognized

Khair ud-Din Khurshid Jah.....................1931-1975

Ghulam Moinuddin Muhammad.....................1975-

TIMURID (Mughal) The
record of descent from the last emperor is murky, and there are other competing
claims. What follows is the "Hyderabad" claim, on behalf of the descendents
of Mirza Quaiush, a son of Bahadur Shah who, it is said, escaped from British
custody, fled to Nepal, and later was sheltered by the Maharaja of Udaipur,
in Rajastan. His descendents eventually settled in Hyderabad, where they
remain today.

Bahadur Shah II...............................1837-1858
d. 1862

Quaiush.......................................1862- ?

Abdullah.................................fl. early 20th cent.

Pyare..........................................fl. 20th cent.

Begum Laila Umahani (fem.)
living at the end of the 20th cent.

TIMURID (Mughal) Another
competing claim is the "Delhi" claimant. This line insists that Farkhunda
Jamal was created heir apparent in 1853, and that Quaiush was unsuccessful
in being named heir.

Bahadur Shah II...............................1837-1858
d. 1862

Fatehul Mulk Bahadur, d. 1858

Farkhunda Jamal...............................1862- ?

Qamar Sultan Begum (fem.)........................d.
1993

Pakeeza Sultan Begum (fem.)....................1993-

IRAN An
ancient monarchy whose distant antecedents stretch back into the Classic
Age and beyond.

The Qajar Claim:The
Pahlavis, listed above, are regarded by many as usurpers themselves,
inasmuch as the founder of the dynasty began his career as prime
minister and regent, overthrowing the previous dynasty during a
period of turmoil in the early 20th century. That dynasty, the Qajars,
have left many descendants...

Victor Emmanuel IV recently (2002) signed an agreement
recognizing the Republic as the valid government of the state, in order
to be allowed to return to Italy. This action has incensed some Italian
monarchists, who regard it as nothing short of an abdication. Nevertheless,
he remains the head of the Family, and supported by other Italian monarchist
groups who regard the declaration as nothing more than a convenience.JERUSALEM
The ancient Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem has exerted a subtle fascination
to Europeans since its inception in 1099. While the City was lost to Muslim
forces in 1244, the title to the state was retained by various monarchs,
and the claims and counterclaims to its proper succession are exceedingly
complex. There are three main lines of thought here; all derive ultimately
from the claims of Frederick II, King of Germany and (1220-1250) Holy Roman
Emperor. He managed to gain control over the Holy Land in 1225, passing
it on to his heirs in 1228. His son (Conrad, 1228-1254) saw the loss
of the city and re-establishment of the Kingdom at Acre in 1244. His son,
Conradin, was putative King of Jerusalem from 1254 until his unfortunate
end in 1268. At that point, the fun begins...

The Cypriot Claim:The
Kingdom of Acre (Jerusalem) was assumed by the Kings of Cyprus, who retained
the title even after the loss of Acre in 1291. Interestingly enough, this
line devolves eventually into the Royal House of Bavaria, who are also
listed under that state and under Great Britain as the Jacobite heirs.

The Neapolitan claim: Based
on the fact that Frederick II held Sicily and southern Italy, a claim that
was assumed by his illegitimate son Manfred, the Kingdom of Naples has
normally included Jerusalem as a adjunct title within its collection.

HOHENSTAUFEN

Manfred.......................................1250-1266

CAPET-ANJOU

Charles I.....................................1266-1285

Charles II....................................1285-1309

Robert........................................1309-1343

Joanna I......................................1343-1382

Charles III...................................1382-1386

Ladislas......................................1386-1414

Joanna II.....................................1414-1435

René..........................................1435-1442 d. 1480

TRASTAMARA (Aragon)

Alfonso I.....................................1442-1458

Ferdinand I...................................1458-1494

Alfonso II....................................1494-1495

Ferdinando II.................................1495-1496

Federigo II...................................1496-1502

Ferdinando III................................1502-1516

HABSBURG (Spain)

Carlos IV (HRE 1519-1558: K. Spain)...........1516-1555
d. 1558

Felipe I (King of Spain, Nap + Sic. 1555-1598)1555-1598

Felipe II (K. of Spain, Nap + Sic. 1598-1621).1598-1621

Felipe III (K. of Spain, Nap + Sic. 1621-1665)1621-1665

Carlos V (King of Spain, Nap + Sic. 1665-1700)1665-1700

CAPET-BOURBON

Philip IV (King of Spain 1700-1746)...........1700-1707
d. 1746

HABSBURG (Austria)

Joseph I (Holy Roman Emperor 1705-1711).......1707-1711

Carlo VI (Holy Roman Emperor 1711-1740).......1711-1734
d. 1740

CAPET-BOURBON-SPAIN-the TWO SICILIES

Carlo VII (K. Nap-Sic.; K. Spain 1759-88).....1734-1759
d. 1788

Inasmuch as Carlo was King of Spain - and Ferdinando,
below, was not his elder heir, this provides yet another potential brachiating
claim. And indeed, the title and arms of Jerusalem do crop up in Spanish
regalia now and then.

The Saxon claim:There
is yet a third line of thought to pursue - if we measure the line from
Frederick the Emperor, and accept only his legitimate heirs, we end up
with a succession following Conradin that looks like this...

HOHENSTAUFEN

Margarethe....................................1268-1270

WETTIN

Heinrich (Margrave of Meissen 1222-1288)......1270-1288

Friedrich II (Margrave in Meissen)............1288-1313

Friedrich III of the Bitten Cheek (Mei. 1292-1324)1313-1324

Friedrich IV the Solemn (Mgv. Meissen 1324-49)1324-1349

Friedrich V the Harsh (Mgv. Meissen 1349-81)..1349-1381

Friedrich VI the Quarrelsome (Meiss. 1381-1423)...1381-1428

Friedrich VII the Mild (D. of Saxony 1428-64).1428-1464

Ernst I (Duke of Saxony 1464-1486)............1464-1486

Friedrich VIII (Duke of Saxony 1486-1525).....1486-1525

Johann (Duke of Saxony 1525-1532).............1525-1532

Johann Friedrich I the Magnanimous (Sax. 1532-47)...1532-1554

Johann Friedrich II (co-D. Saxe-Gotha 1554-66)1554-1595

Johann Casimir (D. Saxe-Coburg 1573-1633).....1595-1633

Johann Ernst (D. Saxe-Eisenach 1572-1638).....1633-1638

Johann Philipp (D. Saxe-Altenburg 1602-1639)..1638-1639

Elisabeth Sophia..............................1639-1680

Friedrich IX (D. Saxe-Altenburg)..............1680-1691

Friedrich X (D. Saxe-Altenburg)...............1691-1732

Friedrich XI (D. Saxe-Altenburg)..............1732-1772

Ernst II (D. Saxe-Altenburg)..................1772-1804

Emil Leopold (D. Saxe-Altenburg)..............1804-1822

Frederick XII (D. Saxe-Altenburg).............1822-1825

Ernst III (S.C.-Saalf. 1806-26; S.C.-Gotha 26-44).1825-1844

Ernst IV (D. Saxe-Coburg-Gotha)...............1844-1893

Albert Edward (K. Great Brit. 1901-10 as Ed.
VII).1893-1910

George I (King of Great Britain 1910-1936)....1910-1936

Edward (King of Great Britain 1936)................1936
d. 1972

George II (King of Great Britain 1936-1952)...1936-1952

Elizabeth (Queen of Great Britain 1952-
).....1952-

It becomes, of course, the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha succession
from 1826, and thus the Royal family of Great Britain from 1901. In a very
peculiar twist of fate, this line is the one which can claim the best success
at recovering Jerusalem; Great Britain was granted a League of Nations
Mandate over the Holy Land from 1918 to 1948, although I daresay that few
if any were aware that the British sovereigns could have exerted a tenuous
and technical claim over the region already...

KASHMIR A
mountain kingdom at the extreme northern end of the Indian subcontinent.
An ancient land, it had fallen under foreign dominance from the late 16th
century. It re-emerged in the mid-19th century, and took its place among
the many quasi-sovereign Indian states of the British Raj. When Great Britain
granted independence to India in 1947, the Indian princes were put under
heavy pressure to accede to the new regime and place their territories
under the authority of the republic - the maharajah of Kashmir determined,
however to retain a seperate independence. However, the region became embroiled
in the exploding conflict between India and Pakistan as Pakistani troops
and guerrillas invaded Kashmir in the hopes of seizing it. The situation
made complex owing to the fact that while the maharajah was Hindu, a great
many of his subjects were Muslim - he was forced to seek immediate aid
from India, whose price was dissolution of the monarchy and annexation
to India. Indian and Pakistani troops clashed, and formed the de facto
frontier line running through the land which exists to this day. Neither
India nor Pakistan have given up claims to the region, but in 2006 diplomatic
efforts brought a more stable cease-fire and a renewal of cross-border
contacts.

KOREA A
mountainous peninsula off the coast of northeastern Asia, inhabited for
ages by the Korean people. Often referred to as the Hermit Kingdom owing
to it's insular and isolationist policies, it was dragged into the 20th
century through a long sequence of horrific events - first foreign occupation,
followed by war and a partition which exists to this day.

LAOS An
ancient kingdom in the northern interior of southeast Asia. Placed under
French colonial authority in the 1880's, and conquered by Japan during
the Second World War, the monarchy survived into full independence in 1953.
But as a result of the chaos engendered by Cold War rivalries in Southeast
Asia in the 1970's, the monarchy collapsed. The royal family was placed
in a Pathet Lao "re-education camp", and the king and his son starved to
death - two of his grandsons escaped, however, on a palm-leaf raft across
the Mekong into Thailand.

MALLORCA
This is the largest of the Balearic Isles, in the Western Mediterranean,
situated between Minorca to the east and Ibiza to the southwest. In the
Middle Ages, these islands and a mainland district - the County of Rousillon
in southern France, constituted a petty Kingdom of sorts, established after
the Aragonese won them from Muslim occupation. The Kingdom didn't last
very long; during an episode of consolidation in the 14th century, Aragon
seized the islands and deposed their King. But, he had heirs and descendents...

MEXICO Mexico
has had two monarchic governments. Though neither lasted very long, the
monarchic tradition has not been forgotten here. The Iturbide Emperor was
a conservative upper-class 2nd generation Mexican who took a leading part
in wresting independence from Spain. The history of his reign is a cautionary
example of why it is never wise to select as sovereign someone who other
members of his class regard as no better than themselves. Driven out of
Mexico after nine months, he returned the next year but was summarily executed.
The Mexican government subsequent to the 1820's proved very unstable, and
in the 1850's a reform movement headed by Benito Juarez took hold of the
state. Because Juarez suspended debt payments (to Europe but not the United
States), conservative elements aided by France were able to install the
Second Empire, headed by an Austro-Hungarian prince who, it was felt, would
act the part of an amiable cipher. Maximilian was anything but, however
and after a time France withdrew support at just the time when Juarez'
forces, assisted by the USA (the Civil War had just ended, leaving America
with one of the largest and most battle-hardened armies in the world),
returned.

At this point, the Iturbide succession joins the
Habsburg succession, as explained below...

VAUDEMONT (Lorraine-Habsburg)

Maximilian I..................................1864-1867

Maximilian and his wife were childless, and thus
in 1865 they officially adopted as their heirs the scions of the House
of Iturbide, thereby unifying both monarchic traditions under a single
successor.

HABSBURG-ITURBIDE

Angelus (from above)..........................1867-1872

Augustine III.................................1872-1925

Maria Josepha (fem.)...........................1925-1949

TUNKL-YTURBIDE

Maria Anna (fem.)..............................1949-1997

Maria Gizella (fem.)...........................1997-1999

GÖTZEN-ITURBIDE

Maximilian II Gustav..........................1999-

MEXICO - The
Aztec descentMexico is a very old state;
there have been large imperial states in the central highlands for many
centuries. The Spanish conquest of the region imposed a new culture and
political framework, but by no means extinguished the people themselves
- in fact, descendants of the pre-Columbian dynasty survived, and some
eventually became ennobled within the Spanish peerage.

MONTENEGRO
Here
is list of pretenders after they were deposed in 1918. Nikola I left Montenegro
in 1917, and was dethroned in 1918. But the Kingdom of Montenegro continued
in exile until 1922 when Montenegro was internationally recognized as part
of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes - what would become Yugoslavia
a few years later.

NAVARRENavarre,
a small region straddling the Spanish/French frontier near the Bay of
Biscay, was once the most powerful Christian kingdom in Spain; however,
when it was cut off from Islamic territories by the expansion of
Leon-Castile to the west and Aragon to the east, it grew insular. In
1512 Spain seized most of the kingdom. But the Navarrese sovereigns and
their heirs continued to govern a pocket regality in far southwestern
France, in Bearn, based at Pau (note also, in virtue of the fact that
these were Comtes de Foix, Navarre was conjoined with the secular
co-Princes of Andorra). In 1589, King Henry III of Navarre became King
Henry IV of France. In 1620, France formally incorporated the
remainder of Navarre into France, though the French kings continued to
use the title.

Antoine..........................................1555-1562 and then...

Henri III (King of France as H. IV 1589-1610)....1562-1610

Louis II (XIII, King of France)..................1610-1643

Louis III (XIV, King of France)..................1643-1715

Louis IV (XV, King of France)....................1715-1774

Louis V (XVI, King of France)....................1774-1793

Louis VI.........................................1793-1795

At this point a
divergence occurs; French succession law is
completely Salic - only males may inherit - but Navarrese succession
laws aren't particular Salic at all. Therefore, although Louis XVIII
and Charles X used the title "King of France & Navarre", the
following is the correct succession under Navarrese rules...

Marie Thérèse (fem.).............................1795-1851

Henri IV (C. de Chambord)........................1851-1883

Under the Comte de Chambord, the legitimist claims to the Kingdoms of
France and Navarre were briefly again merged. After his death,
the Navarrese claim once more diverged as follows:

CAPET-BOURBON-PARMA

Robert I (Duke of Parma 1854-9)..................1883-1907

Henry V (Titular Duke of Parma)..................1907-1939

Joseph (Titular Duke of Parma)...................1939-1950

Elias (Titular Duke of Parma)....................1950-1959

Robert II (Titular Duke of Parma)................1959-1974

Maria Francesca (fem.)............................1974-1994

Alicia (fem.).....................................1994-

Princess Alicia was
married to one of the putative heirs to the Kingdom of the Two
Sicilies, and her son Carlos, Duke of Calabria, refers to his
mother's claim to the Navarrese throne on his website.

NEPAL
A Himalayan nation, the modern state dates from the unification of core
provinces in 1769, but there has been a definable nation here for ages.
The monarchy has been revered by the populace, although it lost much day-to-day
authority to a clan of hereditary viziers from the 1840's. In a series
of sharp struggles between the Royal dynasty and the Vizieral clan in recent
times, the Royals emerged victorious, but in 2001, the monarchy imploded
catastrophically. On June 1 of that year, the crown prince apparently assassinated
his father the king, his mother, and his brother and sister, and then committed
suicide, lingering for 3 days as technically king before dying. His uncle
then assumed control - he could have restored confidence in the monarchy,
but was unable - an uncharismatic man widely seen as grasping, insensitive,
and autocratic, he was rumoured to have had a hand in some manner in the
assassination. He assumed sweeping powers in order to deal with a Maoist
insurgency, but gradually lost control of affairs, his reign ending in
a complete victory by the Communists and the declaration of a republic.

NEUCHÂTEL
Nestled
between France and Switzerland is the Canton of Neuchâtel. A county
within the Holy Roman Empire, it was raised to the status of Principality
in 1643 and, 5 years later, followed the Swiss Confederation (with which
it had had a long formal connection with) in becoming fully independent
of the Empire. For the next 209 years it was a sovereign state with special
ties to Switzerland. In 1848 it adopted a republican form of government
(the Princes retaining certain rights and privileges), and in 1857 it was
fully integrated within Switzerland.

Capet-Orleans-LONGUEVILLE
A bastard branch of the French royal House, issuing from Louis, Duc d'Orleans
(d. 1407).

Marie Anne (fem.)..............................1672-1707

Marie Anne was the final surviving descendent of
not only her father, the first sovereign Prince, but also of her grandfather
and great-grandfather When, therefore, she died in June of 1707, at least
25 different pretenders emerged as potential Princes of this strategic
territory, at various levels of plausibility and seriousness. The issue
was of significance because, apart from its location, Neuchâtel was
home to large numbers of both Roman Catholic and Protestant (French Huguenots
for the most part) subjects. After some hesitation and much debate, an
election was called, and the King of Prussia was recognized as successor
in November of 1707 - his candidacy was considerably enhanced by his offer
to support the Allied position in the War of the Spanish Succession should
they choose to back him. But he was by no means the nearest genealogical
heir: what follows is a putative succession based on purely familial descent.

SAVOY-Carignano The
Carignanos descend from Longueville via the marriage of Thomas, first Prince
Carignano (d. 1656) to Marie de Bourbon-Soisson, granddaughter of Eleonore
Louise de Longueville, sister of Princess Marie Anne's great-grandfather.

Emmanuel Philibert (Pr. Carignano 1656-1709)..1707-1709

Victor Amadeus I (Prince of Carignano)........1709-1741

Louis Victor Amadeus (Prince of Carignano)....1741-1778

Victor Amadeus II (Prince of Carignano).......1778-1780

Charles Emmanuel (Prince of Carignano)........1780-1800

Charles Albert (King of Sardinia 1831-49).....1800-1849

Victor Emmanuel I (K. Sard.; Italy 1861-78)...1849-1878

Umberto I (King of Italy).....................1878-1900

Victor Emmanuel II (King of Italy 1900-46)....1900-1947

Umberto II (King of Italy 1946)...............1947-1983

Victor Emmanuel III...........................1983-

NORWAY The
Kingdom of Norway is one of the oldest European monarchies in existence
today, having in it's origins evolved out of a welter of local Norse tribal
and clan chieftaincies at the end of the 9th century. In early times, the
succession in Norway was more a matter of tanistry than regular genealogical
inheritence, and so it is nearly impossible to assign with any clarity
putative heirs before the 13th century.

When Haakon V died, his sole heir was his daughter
Ingeborg (d. 1361). As Norway retained an essentially Salic view of succession
(i.e. inheritence strictly allowed to males only) Ingeborg's son, Magnus,
of the Swedish House of Folkunga, succeeded to the throne. Magnus later
associated his own son on the throne, and then abdicated some years after...

It is at this point that matters become interesting.
When Haakon VI died, he was succeeded by his son Olav, but the real power
in Norway, and the rest of Scandinavia, was Olav's mother, Margaret of
Denmark. She was the effective ruler of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden until
her death in 1412. From 1397 she had associated with her in all three Kingdoms
her great-nephew Eric of Pomerania, and he followed her in turn (at least
for awhile - he was not a popular or effective monarch); but that is not
quite how the family tree works out - the closest living male relative
to Olav IV in 1387 was a second cousin, Albert, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin...

MECKLENBURG-Schwerin

Albert I......................................1387-1388

Albert died the following year. By the succession
laws in place at the time, his putative Norwegian heir would have been
a nephew, Eric of Pomerania-Stolp
who was, as it happens, the same Eric who Margaret had made her heir...
As mentioned above, Eric proved singularly unable to maintain Margaret's
empire, and by 1440 he had abdicated all his royal titles and retreated
back to Germany. Margaret's increasingly shaky empire passed to Eric's
nephew, Christopher of Pfalz-Amberg.
But Christopher died without surviving issue in 1448, so when Eric, who
also had no surviving heirs, died in 1459, any rights he had would have
passed back to the Mecklenburgs, in the person of another second cousin...

POMERANIA-Stolp

Eric III (Nor. 1389-1439, Den., Swe. 1397-1439)...1388-1459

MECKLENBURG-Schwerin

Henry I (Duke of Mecklenburg-Werle)...........1459-1477

Albert II (Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow).......1477-1483

Magnus VIII (Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin)....1477-1503

Henry II (Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin).......1503-1552

Philip........................................1552-1557

John I (Duke of Mecklenburg-Güstrow)..........1557-1576

John II (Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin)........1576-1602

Adolph (Duke of Mecklen.-Schwerin)............1602-1658

Christian I (Duke of Meck.-Schwerin)..........1658-1692

Frederick I (Duke of Meck.-Schwerin)..........1692-1713

Charles (Duke of Mecklen.-Schwerin)...........1713-1747

Christian II (Duke of Meck.-Schwerin).........1747-1756

Frederick II (Duke of Meck.-Schwerin).........1756-1785

Frederick III (Duke of Meck.-Schwerin)........1785-1837

Paul (Duke of Mecklenbur-Schwerin)............1837-1842

Frederick IV (Duke of Meck.-Schwerin).........1842-1883

Frederick V (Duke of Meck.-Schwerin)..........1883-1897

Frederick VI (Duke of Meck.-Schwerin to 1918).1897-1945

Frederick VII.................................1945-2001

HOHENZOLLERN

George Frederick..............................2001-

Note ! There is an ongoing dispute between the House
of Hohenzollern and a collateral branch of the Niklotings, represented
by George Borwin of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, as to who is the rightful
heir to Mecklenburg claims.

The Sudreim claim There
is an alternative to the above, and in fact a number of the holders of
this claim have attempted to gain the throne, been offered the throne and
refused, or have at least been commonly acknowleged as having a connection
to the claim. As indicated above, King Haakon V had but one legitimate
child, his daughter Ingeborg. When it became apparent that the hereditary
succession must pass through her, an agreement was constructed which recognized
the rights of succession to her descendants - however, a codicil inserted
in the document required that in the event of Ingeborg's descendents becoming
extinct, succession would then pass through any legitimate descendents
of Haakon's illegitimate daughter Agnes Haakonardottir. This provided an
excuse to put forth alternative claims whenever a strand of the Ingeborg
line died out (even though there might be other collateral lines). In the
14th and 15th centuries, the Sudreim claimancy wandered among various descendents
whenever an opportunity or crisis occured, but by the later 15th century,
a distinct lineage had generally been recognized by those who knew the
genealogies, even though it did not, as it happens, represent the senior
stemma of the Agnes descendency.

Governor-General of Finland (Swedish) and sometime
Governor of Estonia

Gabriel (count of Korsholma)..................1656-1673

Gustaf Adolf (count of Korsholma).............1673-1697

Gabriel Adolf (count of Korsholma)............1697-1709
?

Hedwig Wilhelmina (fem.).......................1709-1758

STENBOCK

Johan.........................................1758-1807

Johan.........................................1807-1838

STRANDMANN

Otto Karl Friedrich...........................1838-1840

Julie (fem.)...................................1840-1903

Von KNORRING

Constantin Egolf Gustav.......................1903-1930

Irene (fem.)...................................1930-1957

Von STICHSENSTEIN

Ladislas Franz Leopold........................1957-1999 >

The OTTOMAN
EMPIRE The largest Islamic state in near-modern times, the
Ottomans at the height of their power governed all the Levant, North Africa,
the Balkans, and Mesoptamia. Regarded as "the sick man of Europe" during
the 19th century (a reasonably accurate assessment for the times, as it
was increasingly frail and ossified in the face of burgeoning European
influence), it ironically survived, albeit for only a few years, the European
Empires who were it's most persistent opponents, Austria and Russia. The
Osmanli family is one of the few Islamic dynasties to maintain a law of
succession that resembles European practice.

POLAND-LITHUANIA
Emerging
as a viable state in the 10th century, during the high Middle Ages and
Renaissance Poland was conjoined in personal union with Lithuania, and
became thereby one of the largest and most powerful states in
Europe,
encompassing much of what is the modern nation as well as Lithuania,
Belarus, and most of the Ukraine. In 1569 Poland was converted from a
hereditary to an elective monarchy (the last hereditary Polish king was
pressured into reforming the government owing to his childlessness and
also because of severe military threat from Russia), and in fact the
state was self-described as a rzeczpospolita, a republic, although the chief executive retained the title of Krol,
King. Notwithstanding such, Sigismund II did, in fact, have relatives
who could have pressed a claim to the throne had circumstances played
out differently...

PORTUGAL
The House of Bragança-Viseu is a cadet branch of the original Royal
family; during the second half of the 19th century the monarchy had been
in the hands of a German House (Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the same House that
held Bulgaria and holds Great Britain - see also Jerusalem) which had inherited
the elder stem of the Royal House.

It should be noted that Duarte II had been a Portugues pretender
before the demise of the last king - he derives from an uncle of Queen
Maria II, Miguel, who raised a civil war in the 1830's over who
should be recognized as sovereign of Portugal...

Miguel........................................1828-1834
d. 1866

Miguel II.....................................1866-1927

Duarte II.....................................1927-1976

Duarte III....................................1976-

PORTUGAL At
an earlier time than the above entry, Portugal suffered a massive
succession crisis, in 1580, which resulted in the takeover of the
kingdom by Philip II of Spain - Portuguese autonomy wasn't recovered
until 1640. Briefly, the crown had been held by Sebastian, a
deeply unstable neurotic whose chief desire was to lead a crusade
against the Moors - he was killed in a battle in North Africa, leaving
no heir. The Crown was inherited by a 66-year old Cardinal, who died
after two years. At that point, the succession became exceedingly
muddled, and five contenders leaped forward to claim the prize; the
king of Spain was one of them, and his cause prevailed. Genealogically,
though, the nearest legitimate heir was a neice of the aforementioned
Cardinal; she had died by 1580, but she had left descendents in the
north Italian family of Farnese...

There is a variant to this succession - it is based on the nearest legitimate
heir to Cardinal Henry, but there was a closer heir, of a sorts. Henry
had an older brother, Luiz, Duque de Beja, who left an illegitimate
son, Antonio, who became Prior of Crato. Antonio became one of the five
Contenders in 1580 and, though unsuccessful, never relinquished his
pretension; and he left issue himself. Ordinarily, I would ignore the
claims of an illegitimate cleric, but in Portugal's case, the accession
of a line deriving from illegitimate offspring of an earlier sovereign
is something of a tradition - the House of Aviz was a relict of
Burgundy, and House of Bragança was a relict of Aviz. So, here
is a potential (if highly speculative) succession which did, in fact,
assert claims throughout its duration.

At this point, this line became entirely
extinct, and consequently, the nearest relatives were the descendants
of the Farnese inheritence; so the above succession, beginning with
Elizabeth Farnese, picks up once more.

ROMANIA
Michael was superceded as a small child by his father in the 1930's, but
returned during the second World War, only to be redeposed by the Communists.

RUSSIA
The Russian Imperial House has a great many branches, and a potential Tsar
may be determined in several different ways, depending on how one gives
weight to various claims. What follows is one possible interpretation,
based on a fairly strict interpretation of what constitutes legitimacy
- but there are a number of other interpretations which could be made.

SCOTLAND
The Scotland article is now to be found HERE.
SPAIN
These are the Carlist Pretenders, a faction of the Royal Family who felt
that when Ferdinand VII died the Crown should have gone to his brother
Carlos, Count of Molina, rather than his daughter Isabella. See also: Castile.

When Alfonso Carlos died, the reigning Spanish royal
family were next in line to the Carlist claim. However, a substantial Carlist
party refused to be reconciled to the rival royal house. Citing persistent
rumours that Isabel II had been unfaithful to her husband, they regarded
Alfonso XII as illegitimate and recognised the next male stem, the House
of Bourbon-Parma, as Carlist kings. This claim was bolstered by Alfonso
Carlos I's nomination of Javier of Bourbon-Parma as successor:

Capet-Borbon-Parma

Javier I......................................1936-1977

Carlos VIII...................................1977-

SWEDEN
Although Sweden has been for the past two centuries something of a watchword
in examples of stable European societies, it's relationship to it's individual
sovereigns, and whole dynasties, has often been turbulant and sometimes
chaotic in past eras. The Swedish nobility and commons have had a long
history in modifying, disrupting, or overthrowing regimes that didn't meet
with their expectations, and there are a number of instances where Swedish
history would have developed differently had dynastic inheritences been
permitted to flow without interference.

The modern Swedish state emerged in the early 16th
century when the nation broke free of the Danish-dominated Union of Kalmar.
The leader of the opposition, Gustav Ericsson Vasa, was proclaimed king
in 1523...

VASA

Gustav I......................................1523-1560

Eric XIV......................................1560-1577

The Vasas got into difficulties quite rapidly - Gustav
I's son Eric was a flamboyant and possibly schizophrenic ruler who married
a street vendor, and was eventually deposed and imprisoned in 1568, the
throne passing to a brother. If his children by Queen Karin are accepted
as legitimate and not morganatic, the succession would proceed thusly...

Gustav II.....................................1577-1607

Gustav Ericsson died a childless exile in Russia,
and the nearest heir would thereafter be the son of John III, the brother
who had actually succeeded, and who had died in 1592.

Sigismund (K. Poland 1587-1632, Swe. 1592-9)..1607-1632

Sigismund had been king of Sweden until 1599 but,
having become Catholic upon achieving the throne of Poland, was deposed
in Sweden in favour of a Lutheran member of the Vasa dynasty.

Wladyslaw (K. of Poland)......................1632-1648

John Casimir (K. of Poland 1648-68)...........1648-1672

After both the Polish and Swedish branches of Vasa
had become extinct, the nearest heirs would be a branch of the Bavarian
Wittelsbachs who, as it happened, inherited the crown from the Swedish
Vasas anyway...

WITTELSBACH (Pfalz-Zweibrücken)

Charles XI (K. of Sweden 1660-97).............1672-1697

Charles XII (K. of Sweden)....................1697-1718

When Charles XII was killed in 1718, he left no children,
and the succession was confused. A younger sister, Ulrica Eleonora, was
elected, but genealogically the primary heir would have been the child
of Charles' eldest sister...

OLDENBURG (Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp)

Charles Frederick.............................1718-1739

This branch assumed the style of "Romanov" after
1745.

Charles Peter Ulrich (Emp. Russia as Peter III
1762)...1739-1762

Paul (Emperor of Russia 1796-1801)............1762-1801

Alexander I (Emp. Russia).....................1801-1825

Constantine...................................1825-1831

Nicholas I (Emp. Russia 1825-55)..............1831-1855

Alexander II (Emp. Russia)....................1855-1881

Alexander III (Emp. Russia)...................1881-1894

Nicholas II (Emp. Russia).....................1894-1918

Cyril.........................................1924-1938

Vladimir......................................1938-1992

Maria (fem.)...................................1992-

Another question in Swedish dynastic history concerns alternatives
to the emergence of the current dynasty, Bernadotte, in the early 19th
century.

In 1809, the profoundly unpopular Gustav IV was deposed,
and the rights of his 10-year old son ignored in favour of the kings brother.
The new sovereign, Charles XIII, was an unpleasant and childless ruler
who, in order to secure a valid succession, adopted an heir. His first
choice was younger member of his own extended dynasty, but that prince
died shortly after his elevation. Charles thereupon took the unusual step
of offering the succession to a French marshal, Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte,
Prince of Ponte Corvo. Bernadotte had gained a good reputation in Sweden
by his humane treatment of Swedish POWs and, although he never learned
Swedish, went on to achieve a brilliantly successful tenure as sovereign
- the Bernadottes have placidly reigned in Sweden ever since. But they
were not related to the Swedish royal family by any means...

OLDENBURG (Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp)

Gustav IV Adolph..............................1792-1809
d. 1832

Gustav V......................................1832-1877

Caroline (fem.)................................1877-1907

ZAHRINGEN (Baden-Durlach) Note
that Frederick's father, Frederick I of Baden, died three months before
Caroline; otherwise he would have appeared in this list as well.

Frederick II (Grand Duke of Baden 1907-18)....1907-1928

Sophia (fem.)..................................1928-1930

As it happens, Princess Sophia of Baden married into
the Bernadottes anyway; thus, the current holder of Gustav IV's claim is...
the current king of Sweden.

BERNADOTTE

Gustav VI Adolph (K. of Sweden 1950-1973).....1930-1973

Charles XVI Gustav (K. of Sweden).............1973-

It is a common fantasy that the true heir to a throne is
some obscure personage living in relatively modest circumstances. In point
of fact, though, perusal of most of the lists on this page will show that
higher nobility and royals (putative or actual) tend to intermarry amongst
themselves, leading to condensing of lines into well-known paths (often
enough, seemingly, ending in Otto
von Habsburg). Nevertheless, every now and then a traceable
line running through middle or lesser nobility can be found. Below is one
such; a possible succession from a Mediaeval Swedish dynasty which falls
into no famous European dynsties at all. Yet note, descendents of the Sverkings
run all through subsequent Swedish history - among them (though not senior
representatives of the elder line) were the regents Sten Sture the Elder,
Sten Sture the Younger, and Gustavus Vasa, later King as Gustav I.

SVERKER

John I........................................1216-1222

When John I of Sweden died in 1222, he was replaced
by a rival, Eric XI. But John left an heir of sorts; his sister Helena.
Admittedly, female heirs weren't considered very seriously in the 13th
century, quite apart from the political rivalries between the Sverkers
and the Eriks. Even so, the connection was remembered, and various putative
Sverker heirs have attempted to regain the throne, particularly the Oxenstierna
gens in the 15th century.

Helena of Sweden (fem.)........................1222-1240's

SUNESSON

Catherine of Ymseborg (fem.).................1240's-1252

Catherine was, in fact, wed to John's rival, Eric
XI. But no children were forthcoming.

Benedikte of Ymseborg (fem.)...................1252-c.
1265

KNUTSSON

Knut II of Viby............................c. 1265-c. 1304

Ingeborg of Viby (fem.).....................c.
1304-c. 1341

ASPENÄS

Knut III Jonsson...........................c. 1341-c. 1346

Lord High Justiciar of Sweden, sometime Regent during
the minority of Magnus IV of Sweden

Birger Knutsson............................c. 1346-c. 1351

Magnus II Knutsson.........................c. 1351-c. 1365

Karin (fem.)................................c.
1365-c. 1394

FINVIDSSON

Märta (fem.)................................c.
1394-c. 1405

OXENSTIERNA

Nils (Lord of Ängsö, Frössvik,
and Djursholm)...c. 1405-c. 1453

Regent of Sweden 1448

Erik XI Nilsson............................c. 1453-c. 1470

Kerstin (fem.)..............................c.
1470- ?

HJULSTA

Knut IV Nilsson................................ ? -c. 1487

Fader Nilsson..............................c. 1487-c. 1518

Görvel (fem.)...............................c.
1518-1605

GYLLENHORN

Josse.........................................1605-1631

Anna (fem.)....................................1631-1668

Sigrid (fem.: Baroness Gyllenstierna)..........1668-1700

FLEMING

Johan Casimir (Baron Fleming).................1700-1714

Axel Johan (Baron Fleming)....................1714-1752

Sigrid (fem.: Baroness Fleming)................1752-1782

Fredrik (Baron Fleming).......................1782-1800

Gustaf Adolf (Baron Fleming)..................1800-1848

Sigrid III (fem.:
Css. Trolle-Wachtmeister)...1848-1861

WREDE

Louis (Count Wrede)...........................1861-1901

BARNEKOW

Christian (Baron Barnekow)....................1901-1916

Folke (Baron Barnekow)........................1916-1935

Henrik (Baron Barnekow).......................1935-1992

Johan (Baron Barnekow)........................1992-1997

Carl-Johan (Baron Barnekow)...................1997-

The KINGDOM of the TWO SICILIES An
important Mediterranean state comprising the island of Sicily and the
southern third of the Italian Peninsula. Emerging out of a welter of
Norman lordships established both on the mainland and the island during
the latter 11th century, the Kingdom of Sicily was founded in 1130. The
Kingdom of Naples was established in 1285, and thereafter the two were
sometimes united and sometimes separated. In personal union from 1718,
following the Napoleonic interruptions the two were reunited and, in
1816, were constituted a single state, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Although the king was twice offered the south in a division of Italy
into southern and northern states during the Risorgimento, he refused, and both Sicily and the Naples fell to forces loyal to the new Italian state.

Here's where the fun begins... When
Ferdinando died in 1960, the nearest male relative was his nephew
Alfonso. But Alfonso's father, wed to Princess Maria Mercedes of
Spain, had resigned his rights to the Sicilian crown as a member
of the Spanish Royal Family (a matter of considerable political
delicacy and import, inasmuch as Spain had often been in control of
Naples and/or Sicily, and because the Sicilian Royal Family is a cadet
branch of the Spanish dynasty). Alfonso, however, declined to accept
this disbarment from his heritage, much to the dismay of the
next-in-line branch. Here are both claims in turn; two branches of the
dynasty who have pursued their putative rights with a fury nearly unmatched in royalist circles...

Alfonsine succession

Alfonso II, Duca di Calabria..................1960-1964

Carlo.........................................1964-

Rainierine succession

Rainiero, Duca di Castro......................1960-1973

Ferdinando IV.................................1973-

TUNISIA
Although the modern Tunisian Kingdom barely got underway after independence
from the French in 1957 before being dissolved by republican forces, Tunisia
nevertheless has a very long tradition of monarchic rule. Here are the
successors to Tunisian royalist claims.

Tunisian documents and coinage refer to the state
as a Kingdom from 1950. Muhammad VIII became a fully sovereign monarch
upon the removal of French colonial authority in March of 1956.

HUSAINID

Muhammad VIII al-Amin.........................1943-1957
d. 1962

Husain en-Nasr................................1962- ?

Mustapha................................fl. latter 20th cent.

Muhammad IX at-Taïeb....................fl. latter 20th cent.

Suleyman........................................? -1992

Allala........................................1992-

TUSCANY The
Grand Duchy of Tuscany was a compact state in north-central Italy,
extending from the Appenines west across the Arno watershed and south
over the Metallifere Hills, down to the coast facing Corsica. It
encompassed Pistoia, Pisa, Siena, Arezzo and, above all,
Florence. Considered by some as the birthplace of the Renaissance, it's
best-known family, the De'Medici, ruled the Florentine Republic nearly
continuously from 1421, became Dukes of Florence in 1531, and Grand
Dukes of Tuscany in 1569. The De'Medici became extinct in 1737, and the
state was granted to the Lotharingian dynasty of Vaudemont who had at
the same time inherited the vast Austrian Habsburg legacy. Treated
gently as an allodial possession, after the Napoleonic interruptions
Tuscany was granted to a cadet branch of the Lorraine-Habsburgs, but
was absorbed by the newly formed Italian state in 1860. The very last
Holy Roman Emperor, Franz II, was born in Florence, and grew up in this
sunny and pleasant land.

UNITED STATES
of AMERICA, The EMPIRE of the... No archive dealing with
this sort of subject matter can resist at least a comment on the Empire
of Joshua Norton. I resisted for a long while, but have been persuaded
that there is relevance here. The Regnal Chronologies archive concerns
itself with questions of sovereignty, and Norton's experience is directly
apropos such an issue. He was a South African subject who emigrated to
the western United States in the first half of the 19th century. He settled
in California, but lost his considerable investments and became a penniless
beggar on the streets of San Francisco. After this experience, he became
increasingly eccentric, and in 1859 grandly issued a document proclaiming
himself to be Emperor of the United States. He is presumed by many to have
been driven to a delusional state of mind by his vicissitudes, but there
is some question regarding that; others aver that he simply assumed his
title and thereafter behaved "to the manner born" as a deliberate lifestyle.
The truth of the matter is largely irrelevant, because his reign was gleefully
accepted by San Franciscans - his edicts were published and commented upon
in the papers, his privately printed Imperial scrip was accepted as legal
tender by merchants, and he became a familiar figure to all. Only once
did any official attempt to place him under custody as an insane vagrant,
the attempt was roundly condemned by all and Norton was swiftly released
- he magnanimously issued patents of nobility to those officials responsible
for rescuing him. When he died, his funeral cortege is said to have extended
two miles. The point here is that humans maintain leaders because we permit
such individuals to assume their positions. Sovereignty is a psychological
condition in which both rulers and ruled assume particular roles, and I
would assert that Norton's "rule" included many of those symbols and behaviours.
I realize that it is a special case, inhabiting a gray area - Norton's
subjects didn't cease paying taxes to the Federal government, or refused
to serve in the military during the Civil War. But his story still makes
the point that if you call yourself a King, and those around you don't
disagree, you are in some sense or other a sovereign.

(Joshua) Norton I.............................1859-1881

VIETNAM
An
ancient monarchy in Southeast Asia, Vietnam (or, more properly, Dai-Viet
or Annam) has had a long and exceedingly complex history, by times a regional
superpower and at other times a client province of one or another of it's
neighbours. The modern state emerged in the 1780's out of a welter of local
kingdoms present during a time of disunity extending c. 1533-1787.

WÜRTTEMBERG
A
German Duchy which was raised to the status of Kingdom in 1805. It is located
in southwestern Germany, east of Baden and west of Bavaria. The line recognized
below is by no means the most senior of the family, but all elder branches
are now foreign nationals or the products of morganatic marriages requiring
surrender of succession rights.

WÜRTTEMBERG

Wilhelm II....................................1891-1918
d. 1921

Albrecht......................................1921-1939

Philipp.......................................1939-1975

Karl II.......................................1975-

YUGOSLAVIA
(and SERBIA) During the Second World War, Yugoslavia was
dismembered and Petar retained only Serbia as a Kingdom - a settlement
at the behest of Germany he never accepted or acknowledged from his place
of exile in London. His heirs maintain the claim to greater Yugoslavia,
following the reconstruction of the state under Communist governance following
the defeat of the Axis powers.